Emotionally enthralling, but it is neither as essential as Shawshank or as magical as Life of Chuck. Instead, Green Mile follows the conventions of 90s prestige filmmaking. There’s a lot of plot, and sentiment that often devolves into schmalz when it feels unearned. The bookends of the film feel wholly unnecessary, and it’s just too darn long.
It’s not that it’s all bad or anything; it’s that we’ve seen this done better several times before and since. A few things really stand out: the performances are all terrific, and this is an odd thing to mention, but I loved the songs they played on the radio throughout. The “flicker show” scene got me so good. And the concept, as usual for King, is A+++ stuff.